Copy that...

Interview with Thom Yorke from Pitchforkmedia.com

some favorite exerpts:


Pitchfork: You have a reputation as far back as the mid-90s...

TY: Of being a pain in the ass!

Pitchfork: No, of thinking everything else is a pain in the ass, maybe. The dread, the foreboding, and the pre-millennial tension-- did you expect things to turn out as badly as they did? The new century has gone about as poorly as possible.

TY: Yeah. I think I'm doing pretty well so far. [Laughs]

Pitchfork: You seem happier the past few years. The music seems a little more direct; your lyrics are a little more direct; your vocals aren't as obscured.

TY: I think it's always been the same. Loads of the music on OK Computer is extremely uplifting. It's only when you read the words that you'd think otherwise. That's just kind of the way it is. The whole point of creating music for me is to give voice to things that aren't normally given voice to, and a lot of those things are extremely negative. Personally speaking, I have to remain positive otherwise I'd go fucking crazy.
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Pitchfork: Kid A was obviously a huge success but it's not the type of thing the label wanted to try and sell-- was there any fear that if the first one didn't work out in their eyes, they'd make demands on Amnesiac?

TY: At the time, it felt like it was a good idea to split them up. It was such an elongated period but it wasn't like, "They might not like that one, so we may need to come up with something a little bit easier" or any of that shit. It was all way beyond that. And we knew how tolerant they were. No, it's never been like that ever. Maybe on "High and Dry". I had my arm twisted on "High and Dry".

Pitchfork: To release it as a single?

TY: To put it anywhere. [Laughs]

It's not bad, you know. It's not bad...it's very bad. [Laughs]

Pitchfork: And of course most of the bands that've taken cues from you have done so from things like "High and Dry". Was it ever disappointing that when your peers looked to you guys they ignored Kid A and Amnesiac and took the simpler, more well-traveled road?

TY: But that's the majors all over. "Oh, uh, shit, we need to find something else that looks like it." They spent loads of money and crap and they were right, so I can't argue with them I guess. It's business.

But it upset me a lot, yes. I was really, really upset about it, and I tried my absolute best not to be, but yeah, it was kind of like-- that sort of thing of missing the point completely. When we put Kid A out, I specifically remember saying, "Copy that, you fucking..."